Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes
Trisha Brown: In The New Body, a year-long celebration of the internationally known leader of post-modern dance and enduring renegade whose work has rarely been seen in Philadelphia, continues this spring with a performances by Pennsylvania Ballet of O zlozony/O composite, marking the first time an American ballet company has ever performed a dance by Trisha Brown , an open studio lecture/demonstration on Trisha Brown’s distinctive style, and a lecture on Trisha Brown’s artistic collaborations.
Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design will host Nuts and Bolts, a free open studio lecture and demonstration on Friday, April 29 at 4:30 PM at 418 Main Building Dance Studio (3141 Chestnut Street, 4th Floor). Pennsylvania Ballet dancers, Trisha Brown Dance Company restagers, and former Trisha Brown Dance Company member Stephen Petronio reveal the process of setting Pennsylvania Ballet’s upcoming spring production of O zlozony/O composite. The discussion will illuminate what makes Brown’s movement so distinct – both artistically and technically – and how it is transmitted for performance.
Susan Rosenberg, Trisha Brown Dance Company’s scholar-in-residence, will speak on Creative Collaborations in the Work of Trisha Brown, on Sunday, May 1 at 3:30 pm at the Barnes Foundation’s Comcast Auditorium. Taking place during the Barnes Foundation’s PECO Free First Sunday, the lecture will focus on Brown’s orchestration of collaboration with her dancers and with visual and sound artists as well as her important role as a curator of her own work. Emphasizing Brown’s work on the stage, her contributions to visual art, and her direction of opera, this talk will underscore Brown’s unique approach to music and to her work’s staging, and the qualities of emotion and narrative which emerged in the latter part of her career. The event is free but reservations are required and are available by visiting www.trishabrown.brynmawr.edu.
“The events we’ve planned for this spring will build on everything we offered last fall, giving an even deeper perspective on Brown’s work, and bringing audiences a richer experience when watching Pennsylvania Ballet in the festival’s culminating performances,” says Lisa Kraus, In the New Body Project Director.
As part of their Balanchine and Beyond program on June 9-12, Pennsylvania Ballet will perform O zlozony/O composite. This dance, made on stars of the Paris Opera Ballet, combines the richness of Brown’s most complex movement and partnering with the refined action of classical dance. The ballet was inspired by the poetry of Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz and Edna St. Vincent Millay, which is incorporated into Laurie Anderson’s score. Brown infused her abstract dances with subtle but recognizable imagery and emotional expression in the latter part of her career. Here the dance unfolds in an atmosphere of hushed mystery created through the music and a spectacular backdrop by painter Vija Celmins. Tickets are available by visiting www.paballet.org.
Trisha Brown: In the New Body showcases Brown’s iconic choreography, and her influence and innovative ideas on movement and art. Named In the New Body because of Brown’s influential reimagining of the body’s relationship to gravity and momentum, this festival presented by Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series in partnership with the Barnes Foundation, Pennsylvania Ballet and several area universities celebrates the major phases of Brown’s work through free and ticketed performances and illuminating classes, workshops and talks with the artists and scholars who know her work best. Writings, interviews, photos and videos from earlier In the New Body events are available at trishabrown.brynmawr.edu
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
NUTS AND BOLTS on April 29 at 4:30 PM
Open studio lecture and demonstration
Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts
418 Main Building Dance Studio – 3141 Chestnut Street, 4th Floor
Free but reservations required: www.trishabrown.brynmawr.edu
CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS IN THE WORK OF TRISHA BROWN on May 1 at 3:30 PM
Lecture by Susan Rosenberg
Barnes Foundation’s Comcast Auditorium
Free but reservations are required: www.trishabrown.brynmawr.edu
O ZLOZONY/O COMPOSITE on June 9-12
Part of Pennsylvania Ballet’s Balanchine and Beyond program
Merriam Theatre
For tickets: www.paballet.org
Trisha Brown: In the New Body has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
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